OUR NEW LOOK: As you can see from the design of this newsletter, California Healthline has a brand new look. With our readers’ feedback, we’ve changed the website to make it easier to discover important news, investigations, columns as well as photos and videos. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Los Angeles Times:
Divided Senate Republicans Unveil New Version Of Obamacare Repeal Bill
The bill would earmark an additional $70 billion in federal money to help stabilize health insurance markets across the country, funded in part by preserving two Obamacare taxes on wealthy Americans that the previous GOP legislation eliminated. And in an effort to woo several GOP senators from states dependent on Medicaid to address the opioid crisis, McConnell earmarked an additional $45 billion in the bill to confront the epidemic. (Mascaro and Levey, 7/13)

USA Today:
Senate Health Care Bill: Republicans Woo Conservatives In Latest Draft
The draft bill, released on the Senate Budget Committee's website, tries to appeal to conservatives by including a version of an amendment by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that would allow the sale of deregulated insurance plans as long as Obamacare-compliant plans are also still sold. Cruz confirmed to reporters that his amendment is in the bill and called that "very significant progress." “If this is the bill, I will support it,” Cruz told reporters Thursday afternoon. But Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who helped craft the original amendment with Cruz, was undecided about how he would vote on the bill because the amendment was changed during negotiations, his spokesman said. (Kelly, Collins and Shesgreen, 7/13)

USA Today:
Sick? You Might Not Like The GOP's Latest Health Bill
The Senate dropped a new version of its beleaguered health bill Thursday, tacking on a Ted Cruz proposal in order to win over conservatives like Ted Cruz. It basically lets people buy cheap, bare-bones insurance plans alongside more robust, Obamacare-compliant plans. That's good news for the healthy, and bad news for the sick: If healthy folks flock to cheaper plans, the other plans covering pre-existing conditions will grow more expensive — destabilizing the market in the process, insurance companies say. (Hafner, 7/13)

The Associated Press:
Trouble For Revised Senate Health Bill; Trump Wants Action
Moderate Sen. Susan Collins of Maine told reporters she had informed McConnell she would be voting against beginning debate on the bill, citing in part cuts in the Medicaid health program for the poor and disabled. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has repeatedly complained that McConnell's efforts don't amount to a full-blown repeal of Obamacare, also announced he was a "no." That means McConnell cannot lose any other Republican senators. (Werner and Fram, 7/14)

The Washington Post:
The GOP’s Under-The-Radar Tax Break For The Upper Middle Class
A new tax break for the upper middle class was offered up Thursday in Senate Republicans' revised version of their bill to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The legislation would make health insurance premiums more affordable for consumers who buy the kinds of inexpensive policies that are crucial to the GOP health-care agenda. Yet independent analysts caution that the benefits would mainly accrue to affluent households, and the provision might not substantially expand coverage among the uninsured. (Ehrenfreund, 7/13)

Politico:
Senate Republicans One Vote Away From Obamacare Repeal Failure
Majority Whip John Cornyn acknowledged GOP leaders don’t have the minimum 50 votes right now but insisted, "We're making good progress." He said he and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell were not making "state-specific" promises to wavering senators and were instead merely trying to convince them that the bill is better than Obamacare."We're not through yet," Cornyn said of his and McConnell's work. (Everett and Haberkorn, 7/13)

Politico:
Graham Introduces Repeal Back-Up Plan
A new health care proposal from GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham that would direct much of Obamacare's federal funding directly to the states could offer a starting point for Congress if the Senate GOP effort fails next week, according to a summary of the bill obtained by POLITICO. The bill from Graham is intended to appeal to Republicans as a replacement plan for Obamacare, while he hopes to sell the effort to Democrats as a repair plan. (Everett, 7/13)

The Associated Press:
Analysis: Trump Will Take Health Care Credit Or Cast Blame
If congressional Republicans succeed in repealing and replacing "Obamacare," expect a big Rose Garden celebration with President Donald Trump taking credit. If they fail? Trump has already indicated he will hold Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell responsible, setting up an intraparty blame game that could be devastating for the GOP. (7/14)

The Republicans left the Medicaid cuts in place, which will deeply affect the one-in-three Californians who get care through the program.

The Mercury News:
Latest Senate GOP Health-Care Plan Gets Mixed Reviews In California
As a growing array of competing health care proposals emerged from the U.S. Senate on Thursday, there was plenty of bad news for millions of Californians. But there were also a few rays of hope that may be good for their pocketbooks — including the prospect for more affordable 2018 health insurance premiums compared with the rest of the country. The big picture, however, still isn’t pretty. The latest version of the Republican leadership’s health care plan continues to cut $772 billion in funding over the next decade for Medicaid, the health care program for the poor that was expanded under the Affordable Care Act to include adults without dependent children — about 3.8 million people in California. All told, Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid, is expected to number about 14 million enrollees in the next year, or more than one in three Californians. (Seipel, 7/13)

Modesto Bee:
Revised Senate Bill Would Allow ‘Noncompliant’ Health Plans And Could Threaten Future Of Covered California
As with the repeal-and-replace bill approved in the House of Representatives in May, Republicans want to eliminate the individual mandate that requires most people to have health insurance. If there are enough votes to approve the bill in the Senate, where the GOP has a slim majority, it could jeopardize the ability of the Covered California exchange to offer affordable insurance to 1.5 million low- to middle-income consumers in the Golden State, health advocates said. (Carlson, 7/13)

“Too many trusted medical professionals like doctors, nurses and pharmacists have chosen to violate their oaths and put greed ahead of their patients,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Many of the crimes were related to the opioid epidemic sweeping the country.

Reuters:
Doctors, Nurses Among Hundreds Charged With Defrauding U.S. Health Programs
A total of 412 people, including almost 115 doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, have been charged in the sweeping enforcement action, the biggest ever by the multi-agency Medicare Strike Force, the Justice Department said in a statement. More than 120 people were accused of illegally prescribing and distributing opioids and other dangerous narcotics, charges that come as about 91 Americans die daily from opioid-related overdoses. (Simpson, 7/13)

Los Angeles Times:
The U.S. Should Rethink Its Entire Approach To Painkillers And The People Addicted To Them, Panel Urges
In a comprehensive report on what must be done to staunch the toll of opiates in the United States, a panel of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine makes clear that steps needed to prevent the creation of future opiate addicts will drive some people who are now dependent on these medications toward street drugs such as fentanyl and heroin... Even as lawmakers in Washington debate a healthcare bill expected to reduce access to addiction treatment, the expert panel called on states and the federal government to provide “universal access” to such treatment in hospitals, community-based programs, jails and prisons. (Healy, 7/13)

The CalOptima board – which is made up by county supervisors, and appointed members of the public and medical industry – wields power by controlling which physician networks patients can use, decisions that steer billions of public dollars in the process.

“It’s a hurtful amendment, it’s not needed,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) a noted advocate for LGBT rights who has a transgender son. “I view it as a personal issue, because as a mom I’m impacted, but it’s an issue of fairness for everyone."

McClatchy:
Republicans Fail To Ban Medical Treatments For Transgender Troops
Two dozen House Republicans voted with 190 Democrats to sink the amendment that would prohibit military funds for soldiers seeking medical treatment related to gender transition... Hartzler’s proposal comes in the middle of renewed debate over transgender people serving in the military. (Daugherty and Bergengruen, 7/13)

In other veterans' health care news —

KPCC:
VA To Study Health Effects Of Gulf War, Iraq And Afghanistan On Vets' Families
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has commissioned its first major study of whether men and women who served in America's most recent wars passed on any health problems to their children or grandchildren. Researchers with the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine will hunt for any research that suggests soldiers who fought in the first Gulf War, the post-9/11 Iraq war and Afghanistan might have passed on any medical conditions to their descendants. (Lower, 7/13)

Health officials say cutting off money midway through multiyear research projects is highly unusual and wasteful because it means there can be no scientifically valid findings.

Reveal:
Trump Administration Suddenly Pulls Plug On Teen Pregnancy Programs
The Trump administration has quietly axed $213.6 million in teen pregnancy prevention programs and research at more than 80 institutions around the country, including Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and Johns Hopkins University. The decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will end five-year grants awarded by the Obama administration that were designed to find scientifically valid ways to help teenagers make healthy decisions that avoid unwanted pregnancies. (Kay, 7/14)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
New Santa Rosa Health Center For Developmentally Disabled Gets $2M
A new health center currently under construction in west Santa Rosa just landed an additional $2 million in state funding to help cover the cost of treating residents displaced next year by the closing of the Sonoma Developmental Center. Last spring, Santa Rosa Community Health Centers obtained $2.5 million in state funds for building and equipment costs at the new health center at 130 North Dutton Ave. While the clinic, a $10 million construction project, will be specially designed to serve developmentally disabled patients it will be open to all. (Espinoza, 7/1`3)

Orange County Register:
CHOC To Open NICU With All Private Rooms Where Parents Can Spend The Night
Private rooms are not only quieter and more comfortable for families, but a 2014 study published in the journal Pediatrics found that premature babies staying in private rooms gained more weight, experienced less pain and required fewer medical procedures than babies who were treated in the traditional format. Researchers said the improved health outcomes came from increased maternal involvement in feeding, changing diapers and skin-to-skin contact. (Perkes, 7/13)

The Wall Street Journal:
Social Security, Medicare Face Depletion Within 17 Years, Trustees Say
The trust funds were built when more people paid into the system than received benefits. As the population ages, benefit payments are projected to exceed revenues, drawing down fund balances. Under current law, when the trust funds are emptied, benefits from the programs will be abruptly reduced. The latest projections say retirement benefits would be slashed by 25%. The status of the funds is thus a potential trigger for reforms in the programs. (Zumbrun, 7/13)

Los Angeles Times:
Revised GOP Healthcare Bill Succeeds At Making Things Even Worse
The revised GOP bill includes Cruz’s proposal that insurers be permitted to offer cheaper, skimpier plans that fall short of what the Affordable Care Act defined as basic coverage, as long as they continue to offer at least one plan that meets the Obamacare requirements... Without healthier people’s premiums to offset claims submitted by the ill, insurers would have no choice but to raise rates for the sick. (David Lazarus, 7/14)

Orange County Register:
Senate GOP Bill Would Devastate Children’s Health Care
Providing quality health care to our nation’s children should be sacrosanct. But for many members of Congress, it’s not. The Senate Republican health care bill has made that clear. The bill’s draconian cuts to Medicaid — used to pay for tax cuts for the richest Americans — would potentially devastate care for California’s children, particularly those with disabilities and complex health care needs. (Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 7/12)

Los Angeles Times:
Slashing Medicaid Is Probably The Worst Way To Fight An Opioid Addiction Epidemic
Most readers know by now that deep cuts to Medicaid over the next decade are a central feature of the healthcare reform proposal before the U.S. Senate this week — and a terrible policy that would put health coverage out of reach for millions of Americans. But here’s yet another reason why senators should think twice about voting for the Better Care Reconciliation Act: Doing so would pull the rug out from under those fighting to stop the raging opioid epidemic. (7/11)

Los Angeles Times:
More Evidence Shows Obamacare Is Getting Healthier, But Will That Stop The GOP Wrecking Crew?
Data in a new report issued Monday confirms that the Affordable Care Act market stabilized in the first quarter of this year, becoming more profitable for insurers offering individual policies. That’s good news for the millions of Americans who depend on Obamacare for their health coverage. But it may be bad news for congressional Republicans whose insistence that the ACA marketplace is collapsing in a “death spiral” undergirds their efforts to repeal the law. (Michael Hiltzik, 7/10)

Modesto Bee:
State Can Make Lives Better, Save Money And Fight Disease By Passing Gray’s AB447
Diabetes is a chronic condition, so diligent monitoring and management of blood-sugar levels is the key to avoiding complications, a critical part of thriving for those affected. That’s why I found it particularly troubling that Medi-Cal – the state-run health plan for seniors, persons with disabilities, and low-income individuals – did not cover life-saving continuous glucose monitors. (Adam Gray, 7/10)

Sacramento Bee:
The Best Hope To Help Sacramento's Homeless
Effectively addressing homelessness in our community does not seem to be a lack of commitment or effort, but a lack of regional planning and coordination. As we have seen from Getting to Zero, collaboration allows us to build on the success and innovation of our partners, solve problems across jurisdictions, eliminate unnecessary duplication and to direct the passion and resources where they are needed most. (Ryan Loofbourrow, 7/10)